From Site Selection magazine, November 2000
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Montana
Montana continues with efforts that began in 1999, when the state's 56th General Assembly adopted most of Gov. Marc Racicot's "Jobs and Income Comprehensive Economic Development" plan. This plan focused on business recruitment, research and development, export trade, value-added agriculture and small business innovation among other issues.
Racicot expects this program will not only help existing companies to expand, but it will also foster business start-ups, especially in the high-tech arena. The Montana Dept. of Commerce announced in February that it was gearing up to increase the number of Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) awards granted to Montana businesses. The department is coordinating an outreach program to identify and assist Montana companies in accessing funding from federal agencies.
Montana's Dept. of Commerce also won a $70,000 award from the U.S. Small Business Administration, which will be used to provide further assistance to the state's high-tech small businesses. The state also created a new Telecommunications Authority to help new and existing businesses work in the new electronic marketplace.
In other news, the state created a grant program for job training, allowing up to $400,000, or $5,000 per job, for training purposes.
Governor: Marc Racicot (R) 406-444-3111
The biggest legislative news of late from the state of Nebraska has been the signing of Gov. Mike Johanns' Rural Economic Opportunities Act. The act provides income tax credits for businesses that create jobs with higher-than-average wages and that make an investment in the state's rural counties. Specifically, projects that qualify under the act will receive an annual income tax credit equal to 5 percent of the total compensation paid for new employment (available each year in a seven-year entitlement period following hiring and maintaining added employees) and an income tax credit equal to 10 percent of the new investment made until the end of the entitlement period.
Another focus for Johanns in the past 12 months has been on value-added agriculture legislation. The Nebraska Value-added Agriculture Initiative dedicated approximately $1 million for FY01 to expand the capacity of producers and processors so they can add value to food and non-food agricultural products.
The state legislature also passed the Nebraska Agricultural and Rural Opportunities Act, which devotes $1.5 million to provide grants for microbusiness development over the next three fiscal years. This act doubles the general funds for microenterprise development from $250,000 per year to $500,000 per year. The act also makes available separate funds for value-added agriculture and cooperative agricultural efforts.
Recent Nebraska legislation also impacted environmental litigation. The state now funds businesses with the necessary legal costs associated with water rights and low-level radioactive waste site licensing litigation.
Governor: Mike Johanns (R)402-471-2244
Although Nevada may be known more for its gaming industry, in recent months the state has made moves toward a more high-tech image. In January, Gov. Kenny Guinn revealed his new e-government initiative. The new plan calls for the development of Silver Source -- Nevada's Citizen Connection, an effort to make the state government more accessible to citizens and businesses through the Internet.
Guinn also issued an executive order to create the E-Government Coordinating Council, which will consist of members from the business community, technology experts and the state's Dept. of Information Technology.
Nevada also plans to provide the best labor available to new companies coming to the state with the Millennium Scholars program, which became effective this year. The scholarship program provides college tuition to all state high school seniors who graduate with a minimum 3.0 grade point average.
In other news, the state is trying to enhance its transportation and communications infrastructure with the CANAMEX project. CANAMEX is a joint effort between Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Montana. The goal is to stimulate economic growth, and the plan includes a four-lane highway to run through the five states between Canada and Mexico. Nevada voters will determine the state's involvement in the project at the polls this month.
Governor: Kenny C. Guinn (R) 775-684-5670
Gov. Jeanne Shaheen's big push this year was in advancing the state's economy through telecommunications. In June, she signed into law legislation to promote the development of advanced Internet and telecommunications services throughout the state.
The initiative was a recommendation of the state's Telecommunications Roundtable, a private-public forum the governor established with the Public Utilities Commission. New Hampshire's Dept. of Resources and Economic Development can now focus on developing the telecommunications industry in the state, and it will work with local communities to aggregate demand for telecommunications services, which will help in attracting telecommunications providers to the state.
Another part of the initiative calls for the creation of a Telecommunications Answer Center on the Internet. The site will help match small businesses in the state with telecom providers, and it allows businesses to easily compare the offerings of various telecom companies.
Earlier in the year, Shaheen also signed an executive order creating the Information Technology Strategic Planning Commission. The commission brings high-tech business leaders and state officials together to develop a plan for how New Hampshire can better use information technology to improve efficiency of state government.
Governor: Jeanne Shaheen (D) 603-271-2121
With 76 percent of business clients rating the New Jersey Commerce & Economic Growth Commission's services as excellent or good, the state must be doing something right. In April, the state economic development group surveyed its business clients on their satisfaction of state services and found that most were very satisfied. And if Gov. Christie Whitman has her way, that satisfaction will only continue.
Whitman has proposed a $165 million economic package named "New Jersey Jobs in the New Economy." The package addresses the high-tech segment of the state's economy.
Her new package will help prepare the work force for growing high-tech businesses in the state. It calls for $15 million in "excellence grants" to New Jersey colleges and universities to help hire professors, buy advanced equipment or make other changes to improve the math and science programs.
Also, under the proposed package, $10 million in matching funds will be available for technology research. Ten new incubators will be established, and the state will provide $10 million to leverage $30 million in private funds to help small high-tech firms obtain necessary venture capital.
In other news, the governor also signed into law the renewal of the Transportation Trust Fund, which will provide $3.75 billion for road and mass transit projects during the next four years. The plan is an effort to decrease congestion, lower commute times and maintain the state's quality of life.
Governor: Christine T. Whitman (R) 609-292-6000
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